It then took long minutes before his comrades realized the death of the forties, all under the eyes of Internet users according to this direct. The images show the man, already rigid, to be shaken by one of his friends before the latter extinguishes the live. If the Nice prosecutor’s office said to Parisian that for the moment, “There is nothing suspect”, “Hearings are underway and an autopsy will be practiced”. The exact causes of the death of the one who was nicknamed “JP” must therefore be determined by the investigation carried out by the Nice research brigade.
But the context surrounding the death of Raphaël Graven is already a lot of noise. The man has indeed died while the Kick channel broadcast live for ten days and that he was regularly filmed in the process of making all kinds of extreme challenges, often made of blows, bullying, insults on the part of other streamers, all against donations in euros from their subscribers.
Last year, Mediapart had carried out an investigation about them, denouncing “Humiliations and live violence for audience boxes”. An article which had caused the opening of a preliminary investigation and the placement in police custody of “Narutovie” and “Safine”. The latter had finally been released.
Shock and dismay
If many discover this sordid content today, it is because it was broadcast on the Kick platform, less popular than Twitch but whose rules are also less severe. It was at his 40th birthday that Raphaël Graven had met his new friends, when he used to stream alone from the house of his parents where he lived.
After meeting his new group, he had ended up moving, occupying his time filming himself with his comrades. In these videos, he was regularly taken to task, “Narutovie” and “Safine” reminding him how much they had changed his life. Many videos show the two men humiliate Raphaël Graven with their words, evoking his life before, a life where he had neither friends nor love experience. Large smoker, physically fragile and qualified as“disabled” In some videos, Raphaël Graven was filmed being hit or strangled, all under the hilarious gaze of Internet users who paid for this show.
On X, a user has found a video dating back several weeks in which his “friends” evoke the possibility that he dies one day. “Imagine, he clamse in full live … We are dead”said one of them. What another responds: “I have already asked myself the question, unless he says in front of the camera there, now, that if tomorrow he dies in full live, it is due to his state of shit and not to us”. Phrase that Raphaël Graven, under pressure, finally pronounced.
Because the whole debate is now whether the man visibly very dependent on his role as a streamer and his group, was fully consenting during all these years. For defenders and subscribers of the chain, there is no doubt that Raphaël Graven participated in all conscience in these activities during which he was sometimes targeted by paint or water jets, deprived of sleep or even food. They say that short clips published in recent hours online to denounce the bullying and humiliations on the part of his comrades do not show the complete reality of their years spent together.
Conversely, a large majority of internet users, shocked, evoke a psychological and financial grip. In one of these videos, a message sent by Raphaël Graven to his mother even evokes his desire to flee. “It’s going too far. I have the impression of being kidnapped with their concept of shit”he said.
“States to individuals, from wars to networks, our time has become that of savagery, of her spectacle of alienation and humiliation: she is no longer hidden, she assumes, claims, stages herself. We are always your accountants”wrote Edwy Plenel on X, sharing a link to a new article from Mediapart. The streamer Ava Mind said: “A few months ago, I was caught because I said that, for me, the chain which should no longer be exposed to the general public, it was that of Jean Pormanove. As much for the young people who looked at her and the image that it gave, that for himself, who seemed not to be in full possession of his means or master of the decisions of what he suffered. Frankly, that makes me piss off for …”.
The French streamer Arkunir, very popular and followed by more than a million people on X, also reacted: “I have rarely been so shocked here, scary as such content could have continued for years without anyone intervening. Whether it was the dirty shit on the videos or kick who have enjoyed it without reacting I will all pay.”
As for the main concerned, they paid tribute to the deceased. “Narutovie”, whose first name is Owen, announced the death of Raphaël Graven on Monday with this Instagram story: “I have always dreaded the day I should write these words. Unfortunately, that night, JP (Raphaël Graven) left us. My brother, my sidekick, my partner, six years side by side, without ever letting go, I love you my brother and you will miss us. I ask you all to respect his memory and not to share the video of his last breath. peace my brother. ” He added in a second publication: “No one knows but everyone is talking. We loved it is all that matters.”
The Minister’s reaction
This Tuesday, Clara Chappaz, Minister Delegate responsible for artificial and digital intelligence, in turn commented on this case on X. “The death of Jean Pormanove and the violence he has suffered are an absolute horror. I send all my condolences to his family and his loved ones. Jean Pormanove was humiliated and mistreated for months live on the Kick platform. A judicial investigation is underway. I seized the Arch and made a report on Pharos. I also contacted the Platform Manager to obtain explanations. On the dissemination of illicit content is not an option: it is the law.
A too late reaction? According to Mediapart, the minister had already been contacted on this subject several months ago, but the Kick platform was “Far from being a priority” In his agenda while the political context (the fall of the Barnier government and the appointment of François Bayrou) was tense.
